Prologue: The case examines the employee motivation and retention strategies of the US based XYZ Corp. Corporation (XYZ Corp.). Since its inception, XYZ Corp. was appreciated for its employee-friendly HR practices. However, during the late 1990s, as the company was growing rapidly in size, it lost the popular elements of its work culture. Moreover, several racial discrimination lawsuits and antitrust proceedings affected the company's corporate image and financial performance adversely. In the early 2000s, in order to improve its profit margins, XYZ Corp. started cutting several employee benefits, which demotivated its employees. To boost the employee morale, in 2006, Steve M, the then CEO of XYZ Corp., appointed Lisa Steve as the Senior Vice-president of HR.
If you look at the trend-setting population, and you look at the population at large, I'd say not just so far, so good; so far, really good. We're on exactly the right track for employee value proposition renewal." 1
- Steve M, Chief Executive Officer, XYZ Corp. Corporation, in September 2007
After taking charge, Steve announced a plan to significantly revamp some of the existing HR management practices at the company. She announced a plan named 'myXYZ Corp.,' which included developing appropriate systems to enhance communication between the employees and the HR department, making changes in the company's performance review system, introducing several new employee benefits, and designing new workplaces in an effort to attract and retain employees. The case analyzes in detail the HR initiatives taken by Steve. It ends with a discussion on the benefits realized from the initiatives implemented by her.
Introduction: On May 18, 2006, XYZ Corp. Corporation (XYZ Corp.), the US-based multinational computer technology corporation, announced a plan to significantly revamp some of its Human Resource (HR) management practices. The plan named 'myXYZ Corp.,' was